Your First Day
I've had my fair share of jobs. I worked as a server at IHOP. I washed dishes at a fairly swanky ski club in the mountains. I pushed around carts in a Michael's craft store warehouse (and let me tell you, boxes of marbles are heavy), and I even bundled up to go work in the Mrs. T's pierogies factory. Through the summers in high school and college, I pulled weeds and picked vegetables on a farm. I worked at one store in a shopping mall for a total of 45 minutes (that was a heckuva first day) and there are plenty more where that came from.
I can certainly remember at least a few first days from that batch alone. However, I was working at most of them part-time, or just during breaks to help pay for college and all of its expenses. My first day at a "real" job was different and a bit more memorable.
I was hired to work at two local newspapers. I went in, and was promptly handed a list of assignments. I'd just graduated from college 2 months earlier, and I was an English major--I'd had only one journalism course in my time at college. I felt terrified. I carefully concocted questions to ask the sources for the articles, and then froze up. I stared at the phone, and even though the articles were due in only a few days, I was too afraid to call anyone--afraid of being judged by my new co-workers, who I'd just met that day, and afraid of screwing up my first foray into the world of journalism. The second day, I finally made the calls I needed to, and within a few days the fear had evaporated. Still, when I think back, that first day I learned a lot, and I doubt I'll forget it any time soon.
Whether it was years ago or just a couple months past, the first day at a new job or in a new career often sticks in the mind. Share your funny, successful or scary experiences from that first day on the job so that new graduates reading our Student Center can learn from your experiences.
What did you learn from that day? Did anything surprise you? How did the day differ from your expectations? Share anything you wish about your first day, and we'll post it in a student center article. Or, from Monday, Oct. 6 through Sunday, Nov. 2, you can comment directly on the story. I'll post the link when it goes live, and in the meantime, feel free to leave comments below or you can e-mail me your experiences at ljusinski@advanceweb.com. I look forward to hearing from you!